RSS for Educators (Blogs, Newsfeed, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom) by John G. Hendron
The book I chose for my professional growth in this course was RSS for Educators (Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom) by John G. Hendron. I chose this book because I am passionate about not only being technology literate for my own purposes but also allowing my students’ creativity and expertise come to life in my classroom via their technology abilities. As I learn about the resources that can enhance my lessons such as blogs, wikis, etc., I look forward to seeing how those sources could play out practically in the life of my class. As the author noted, and I agree completely, “The Read/Write Web ought to have a place in schools…For one, [it’s] where both businesses and society have turned to grow and learn,…[its] also a place where people make a living. [Therefore] Teaching students how to self-educate using the Read/Write Web is an important skill.”(p. 13)
The book was broken down by technology tool in the following order: Blogs, Podcasts, Newsfeeds, Wikis. Throughout the first couple chapters, the author focused on educating the reader on the history and background of the tool, “As I’ve mentioned, blogs are Web sites that are usually organized around short writings called “posts.” (p.21) Following the background, the author would then give a brief tutorial on the use of the tool, for the educator/readers’ benefit.
In the second part of the book, the author’s focus was to demonstrate and encourage the reader in how to facilitate the tool, practically within his/her classroom. Ii like the way the author remained unbiased in regards to the pros and possible cons of usage in the classroom. He remained aware that often times tools can be a distraction and misused if the teacher fails to stay aware of those possibilities. Hendron states, “One weakness in this lesson is the enforcement of learning standards for the topic studied….Success in meeting standards requirements for this lesson will rely upon carefully chosen clips, instructor coaching, and instructor comments on blog posts created throughout the project. (p.162)”
My favorite highlights from the book were ones that I found most useful in my own development as an educator as well as applicable in my classroom. On one end, I have been struggling with parent-teacher communication as parent involvement is minimal in Title I schools. But within that challenge is also the challenge to document (on paper) each and every encounter I have with a parent. The book highlighted “teacher blogs” an “…easy-to-use mechanism for increasing teacher-parent communication” (p.11). Second, with the use of blogs and wikis in lessons, I love the way students become responsible for their peers’ work as well as their own. My favorite tool highlighted was the RSS aggregator because it allowed the students to be explorers and facilitators of their own learning. It forces the teacher to be simply the facilitator and the students take on the dominant role to educate themselves. As stated earlier, if society and businesses have adopted this method of learning, then I believe our students ought to be groomed in doing the same since they will make up our future society and businesses.
The book I chose for my professional growth in this course was RSS for Educators (Blogs, Newsfeeds, Podcasts, and Wikis in the Classroom) by John G. Hendron. I chose this book because I am passionate about not only being technology literate for my own purposes but also allowing my students’ creativity and expertise come to life in my classroom via their technology abilities. As I learn about the resources that can enhance my lessons such as blogs, wikis, etc., I look forward to seeing how those sources could play out practically in the life of my class. As the author noted, and I agree completely, “The Read/Write Web ought to have a place in schools…For one, [it’s] where both businesses and society have turned to grow and learn,…[its] also a place where people make a living. [Therefore] Teaching students how to self-educate using the Read/Write Web is an important skill.”(p. 13)
The book was broken down by technology tool in the following order: Blogs, Podcasts, Newsfeeds, Wikis. Throughout the first couple chapters, the author focused on educating the reader on the history and background of the tool, “As I’ve mentioned, blogs are Web sites that are usually organized around short writings called “posts.” (p.21) Following the background, the author would then give a brief tutorial on the use of the tool, for the educator/readers’ benefit.
In the second part of the book, the author’s focus was to demonstrate and encourage the reader in how to facilitate the tool, practically within his/her classroom. Ii like the way the author remained unbiased in regards to the pros and possible cons of usage in the classroom. He remained aware that often times tools can be a distraction and misused if the teacher fails to stay aware of those possibilities. Hendron states, “One weakness in this lesson is the enforcement of learning standards for the topic studied….Success in meeting standards requirements for this lesson will rely upon carefully chosen clips, instructor coaching, and instructor comments on blog posts created throughout the project. (p.162)”
My favorite highlights from the book were ones that I found most useful in my own development as an educator as well as applicable in my classroom. On one end, I have been struggling with parent-teacher communication as parent involvement is minimal in Title I schools. But within that challenge is also the challenge to document (on paper) each and every encounter I have with a parent. The book highlighted “teacher blogs” an “…easy-to-use mechanism for increasing teacher-parent communication” (p.11). Second, with the use of blogs and wikis in lessons, I love the way students become responsible for their peers’ work as well as their own. My favorite tool highlighted was the RSS aggregator because it allowed the students to be explorers and facilitators of their own learning. It forces the teacher to be simply the facilitator and the students take on the dominant role to educate themselves. As stated earlier, if society and businesses have adopted this method of learning, then I believe our students ought to be groomed in doing the same since they will make up our future society and businesses.